October 8, 2007

A Reprise

I apologise for my short absence from the blog. I've been waiting to post a story which I have recently written, but it is still undergoing some revision. In the meantime, I'll post something I wrote on a trip ('trip') in DC, which I must partly attribute to the fresh perspective given by an intriguing acquaintance of mine:

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August 25, 2007
Sunset
D.C. Mall

What am I, besides a mere translator. As I write, as one communicates , one simply narrates one's own unique experience, with all its idiosyncrasies, and tries to funnel it into specific words, to share with another individual.

As one person's single experience can be so vastly different, and is truly unique in its distinction of place and time, it is inevitably an anomaly.

So what am I if not simply a translator, what is language if not words specifically designed and crafted to reflect one's own personal anomaly of an experience. What am I, but simply a translator, an interpreter of self.

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I think I was reflecting on how one person can see something so differently than another, and how we attempt to share our experiences, of thoughts and ideas (all essentially experiences, either physical or mental) in order to find a piece of common ground with another. This intersection either resonates harmoniously or collides as something dissonant or incomprehensible to one or the other.

This most likely makes little to no sense, or may seem as something insignificant, but I believe that most discord arises from miscommunication or misunderstanding, as opposed to ill-will. As humans, we owe it to each other that in conversation, we give each others' words ample reflection, and attempt to understand them in terms of the individual with which we communicate. If we tie their words with their individuality, we may better appreciate what they have to say. Because it is no simple feat to translate down your feelings and thoughts into words. And it is no simple feat, as an interpreter, to find the source of each of the others' words within ourselves, as we are all vastly different.

It may help, however, if we keep in mind that we are all fundamentally human.

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